Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Individuals should be valued more than a process or tool

Agile has given us the promise of less processes. The promise was further to focus on the individual. It happens often, that people in the team I work with do not like to hear about process. One of the reasons why Agile became popular, was that people wanted to break free from the process driven business world.

Could it have been an act of rebellion? Or was it simply the idea that we can do more with less? The truth may be found somewhere in the middle. We prefer to have as little rules as possible. Rules can keep us from doing what we really want. Rules can also slow us down and makes us less effective.

Each individual finds a time in his career, when he feels he could be valued more. We want to be appreciated. Only receiving a salary each month, is not enough. People should see our value. We should encourage each other and give hope where we can.

Being a professional is important and needed. We need to consider others and learn how to be efficient. Each individual should grow in his career. New skills needs to be practiced. There is however another side which people do not speak about.

Interactions between individuals are also important. We need to be able to speak to each other. How well do we know the people sitting next to us? Most of the day is spent with people at work. It is those people we sit with, who affects us most during the day.

Agile uses this often overlooked part of work. It states that the interaction between individuals we work with, are more important than a process or tool.